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Metaphoric Language

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Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Synonyms

Idiosyncratic language

Definition

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may produce speech that appears to be irrelevant to the current communicative context. For example, Kanner (1946) described a child with ASD who would yell, “Don’t throw the dog off the balcony!” whenever he was about to throw something. His parents reported that several years earlier, they had been staying in a hotel with a balcony and warned the child not to throw his stuffed toy dog over the railing. Kanner emphasized that this “metaphorical language” was not irrelevant or meaningless. Rather, individuals with ASD attach unique meanings to these “figures of speech” based on specific past experiences.

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References and Reading

  • Kanner, L. (1946). Irrelevant and metaphorical language in early infantile autism. American Journal of Psychiatry, 103, 242–246.

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  • Paul, R., & Norbury, C. (2012). Language disorders from infancy through adolescence: Listening, speaking, reading, writing, and communicating (4th ed.). St. Louis: Elsevier.

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  • Tager-Flusberg, H., Paul, R., & Lord, C. (2005). Language and communication in autism. In F. R. Volkmar, R. Paul, A. Klin, & D. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders (Vol. 1, 3rd ed., pp. 335–364). Hoboken: Wiley.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Speech Pathology and Audiology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Maura Moyle & Claire Plowgian

Authors
  1. Maura Moyle
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  2. Claire Plowgian
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maura Moyle .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA

    Fred R. Volkmar

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Moyle, M., Plowgian, C. (2018). Metaphoric Language. In: Volkmar, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_1678-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_1678-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6435-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6435-8

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